Anyone want to go for a drive?

Hello from Oregon! Well it's been go, go, go since we left San Francisco...well, actually since we left Ft. Lauderdale! We left Ukiah on Friday morning and were headed for Brookings, Oregon. We took a slight detour backwards so we could visit our dear friend Chuck Brown at his museum...and it was definitely worth it! After that, we pretty much spent the remainder of our day on the road. Not much for me to report there because I have difficulty staying awake in a car for more than 20 minutes at a time. I did wake up for a delicious meal at Marie Calendars. :) A few hours later we arrived in Brookings at our lovely little hotel on the beach (good find, mom). We walked on the chilly, chilly beach, and most of us even got our toesies in the Pacific waters. We found a Fred Meyers before hitting the sack that night. In the morning I went on a chilly little run through a retirement community 1st thing and then we hit the road after breakfast. We were headed for another little coastal town near Lincoln City, Oregon (Naskowin???). We made it there early in the afternoon and thanks to Lori's connections, we had another hotel right on the water! We went shopping at the outlet mall and brought subs back to our oceanfront balconies for dinner. We even got to see a wedding right on the beach! Seems to be a common occurrence for us this summer (although this time they had their own tent). We walked on the chilly beach for a few, had a near death experience with a moth and a broom, and then got some good sleep. Today (Sunday) we woke up and once again hit the road. We were supposed to be in Portland in less than 2 hours, but it took us a bit longer due to some traffic. We stopped at this cute little roadside farm stand, sampled some yummy snacks, and saw arguably the biggest zucchini ever grown. We made it to Portland, checked into our hotel, and then went out in search of the yummiest coffee ever cold brewed...and boy did we find it! Thanks to Ry's suggestions, we went to the original Stumptown and I got a cold brew from the tap...FULL of foamy deliciousness! We will definitely be headed back tomorrow. Lori and Jan got some that was already mixed with milk and enjoyed it too. We then went to Clackamas mall for a little bit of tax free shopping. We stopped by Fabric Depot (with no luck for what the ladies were looking for) and then had the yummiest veggie filled dinner at VeggieGrill (why can't we have one of you at home, sweet veggie wonderland???). I had grilled peaches (oh.my.word.DELICIOUS.)on my salad of quinoa, romaine, beets, tomatoes, and candied walnuts....I also had roasted veggies and think I was close to heaven after my first bite. Lori got some "fish" tacos, Jan had grilled portobello skewers, and mom had mac and cheese. We were all happy campers (and didn't get a ticket for parking illegally). We hit up Fred Meyer again and then made it back to our hotel. We decided to go for a little stroll and...wait for it...went foraging for wild BLACKBERRIES!!! Mom spotted a ginormous bush right by our hotel and we gathered a whole bunch!! And let me tell you...the yummiest and sweetest blackberries I have ever tasted! We discovered a waterway behind our hotel too with some adorable houseboats and are now in for the night. Tomorrow we plan on going to a U-pick farm and doing some more fun things that I don't know about :) I CAN tell you that we will be making at least one visit it Stumptown for some more deliciousness. :) We are taking bunches of pics and I can hopefully put some one soon...they are just all on Lori's computer. Thanks for reading! Miss you all! Katie :)